Clothes drier and condenser therefor



Sept. 30, 1958 H. E. MoRRlsoN CLOTHES DRIER AND'CONDENSER THEREFOR Filedy July 14, 1955 Sept. 30, 1958 H. E. MoRRlsoN CLOTHES DRIER AND CONDENSER THEREFOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 14, 1955 Sept. 30, 1958 H. E; MORRISON 2,853,798

CLOTHES DRIER AND CONDENSER THEREFOR Filed July 14, 1955 5 sheets-sheet 3 /z'I/En [DJ-1 #nemo E Mae/50N CLOTHES DRIER AND coNDnNsER THEREFOR Application `luly 14, 1955, Serial No. 522,097

2 Claims. (Cl. 34-75) The present invention relates to a clothes drier and condenser therefor.

More particularly, the present invention relates to a combination of a clothes drier and condenser With the condenser disposed in a substantially closed air circulating system for the clothes drier and physically posi- .tioned over the drier drum.

While clothes driers with condensers in a closedair circulating system for the clothes drier have been known and constructed in the laundry equipment art, considerable expense and diiiiculty in utilizing the same has been experienced. Many of these difficulties occur due to the fact that heretofore it has almost invariably been considered necessary inthe combination to dispose the condenser in a position either at the side of the horizontal axis clothes drying drum or at the rear of the mechanism behind the drum. Such placement of the condenser was heretofore considered necessary due to considerations concerned with the air flow path and manufacturing techniques. By such placement of the condenser in the combination units, the units have necessarily been substantially larger than clothes driers without the condensers included therein with the result that there has been a substantial increase in the expense of producing the combination beyond the additional expense of the mere inclusion of a condenser in the system.

Another difliculty which has accompanied the use of condensers in the clothes drier condenser combination has been the extreme temperature gradient through which the air must be heated for effective clothes drying since the more effective of the known condensers substantially reduced the temperature of the air below the designed inlet temperature for the air heating duct and the heating elements. Diiculties of this type resulted in either highly ineiiicient clothes drying by the clothes drier or the expense of redesigning and substantiallyincreasing the heat capacity of the air heating elements in the air duct.

All of these difficulties and numerous other have been obviated by the present invention which permits not only highly efficient condenser operation and highly efficient drying operation but also permits the utilization of improved manufacturing techniques and the assembly of a combination clothes drier with a condenser, in combination, substantially without increasing the size of the combined unit over that of a clothes drier without the condenser. Also, clothes driers embodying the principles of this invention are effective to substantially preheat the air flowing between the condenser and the air heating duct thereby substantially increasing the efficiency of the air heating operation while reducing heat energy losses and permitting the utilization of heating elementsy no larger than the heating elements necessary in a clothes drier without a condenser, or possibly even smaller heating units.

The combination clothes drier with a condenser in accordance with the principles of this invention has a condenser which overlies the rotatable drum in the clothes atent ICC Patented sept. 3o, 195s drier in the usually free space between the top of the drum and the top of the cabinet housing for the clothes drier. The condenser itself may have a substantially horseshoe configuration so that both the inlet thereto and the outlet therefrom are disposed in the vicinity of the back of the drier housing or cabinet with the inlet thereby` conveniently placed substantially adjacent to the exhaust fan which ldraws spent air from the drier. The outlet from the condenser is also conveniently disposed for connection with an air duct having one face thereof immediately adjacent to or in interfacial engagement with or formed as a part of the air heating duct along the back face of the air heating duct whereby air passing through the outlet duct from the condenser will be preheated prior to entering the air heating duct in the vicinity of the lower end thereof thereby substantially increasing the eiciency of the operation and substantially reducing the cost of production.

It is, therefore, an important object and principle of the present invention to provide a new and improved drier condenser combination mechanism.

Another important object and feature vof the present invention is to provide a new and improved` condenser and horizontal rotary drum clothes drier combination with the condenser for a closed air circulating system for the drier overlying the drier drum within the housing for the complete combination.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a clothes drier with a condenser overlying the drier drum to thereby cool the cabinet top for the drier.

Still another object and feature of the present invention is to provide a new and improved clothes drier and condenser combination wherein the condenser overlies the clothes drier drum and the inlet to the condenser is substantially adjacent to the spent air exhaust fan and the outlet from4 the condenser is substantially adjacent to the air heating means for the drier.

Yet another object and feature of the present invention is to provide a new and improved condenser for combination with a hot air type clothes drier.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved condenser and clothes drier combination wherein the condenser is disposed to provide for convenient outlet thereof adjacent to the air heating means for preheating the air passing from the condenser to the air heater.

Still other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention andan embodiment thereof, from the claims, and from the accompanying drawings in which each and every detail shown is fully and completely disclosed as a part of this specification, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:

Figure l is a rear elevational view of a clothes drier with the back cover removed and a portion of the top cover broken away tobetter illustrate certain parts of the assembly;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a clothes drier and condenser combinationfin accordance with this invention with the top cover removed therefrom;

Figure 3 is a side view of the condenser showing a part of the supporting bracket therefor in section viewed as taken substantially along the line lll-Ill of Figure 2 and further showing in dotted line phantom illustration the top cover of the condenser hingedly displaced from the remainder of the condenser;

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the condenser viewed substantially as taken along the broken line IV-IV of Figure 2, and

Figure 5 is a sectional View taken along line V-V of Figure l.

clothes drier may be provided with la vctnnpletely or sub;`

stantially closed air recirculating systein so that none'of the hot moist lint-laden air from the drier `need be eX;

hausted into the room where the drier is positioned V'such as in a utility room or a kitchen or the like in the' case where the drier is a home appliance such as ,the one illus-2 trated in Figures l and 2. The combination unit is-entirely enclosed in a housing or casing 412 which Vis rein-1 forced by edge peripheral reinforcing members 13 serving as legs to support the combination mechanism and also serving as a supporting structure/for various parts and mechanisms therein.

Within the mechanism, a pair of additional structural supports 14 operate incombination with theperipheral supports 13" to securely and fixedly mount a bulkhead 15 which carries and substantially encloses a horizontal axis rotatable drier" drum into which the` clothes are placed as through the cabinet door 16 in the housing or cabinet 12. The drum (Figure 2) is rotatably driven about its horizontal axis such motor means as an electric motor 17 mounted on the framework of structural supports 13 and the base plate for the mechanism.

More particularly, the motor 17 `is directly coupled throughfabelt 18, such as a V belt or the like, and pulleysl such as the pulley 19 on the motor shaft, thepulley 20 on the blower or fan shaft, a pulley 21 on an idler shaft, and a pulley 22 on a pump shaft to the fan or blower 23, an idler arrangement 24, and a pump vmechanism 25. The idler pulley 21 driven by the motor driven belt 18 has a multifold greater diameter than the pulley 19 on the motor shaft sopasv to effect a substantial vreduction Vin rotational speed between the motor shaft and the idler shaft. By then providing a small diameter pulley 26 on the idler shaft anda relatively large diameter pulley 27 on the drum shaft 28, a still further reduction inrotational speed is effected so that theV drum supported by thesupport-post 13' will rotateat al proper tumbling speed ,while themotor 17 may operate at standard `or conventional speeds for electric motors. Thensmall idler pulley 26 is coupled to. the large drum pulley ,27.also by means of a belt 29 which may be a V ,belt or thehlike.

In operation, warrnorhot moist lint-laden spent air is drawn from the clothes drier drum through -an aperture in the bulkheadzsubstantially coaxially with the fan ymechanism 23 by. action of, the Vrotating impellers 30.

The air is' then forced by the fan through an exhaust duct 31 to the inlet duct 32 with `which it mates as at 33. The

air then passes through the inlet duct, 32 to the condenser duct 36 and over the air heating elements 36a,whi ch. may.

be electrically energized as illustrated, -or have another fuel energization such as ygas or thevlikfe, from whichthe, The

air passes to an outletl 38 ,fr om theheater. duct. outlet 38 from the heater duct also lserves asan;inlet to the drier drum and passes throughfan appropriate aperture in the bulkhead 15 of the idrier mechanism assembly.

While they air is passing through thecondenser assem.

bly 11, Vit is substantially CQoled,cleaned and .dehurnidi-w ed so that it is substantially. fresh air-fas it passes into the preheater duct 35. After passage through the main heater duct or primaryv heater duct 36, 'the -airis heatedy to a relatively high temperature and is in a subsztalnntially 4 yd1'y,hot and clean condition when it passes into the drier to flo-w over the clothes and take moisture and lint therefrom. As will be .seen from the following detailed description of the condenser assembly 11, it is operable to eiect the described functions of cooling, cleaning and dehumidifying the air passing therethrough since it is a substantially closed chamber except for the inlet and outlet provided thereon and is further provided with a cold water spray which is elfective to wash the lint from the air as yv vellas cool the air whereby cooling and dehumidilication take place. In addition, the spray is provided near the inlet to the condenser and the water thereupon ows over the bottom of the condenser toward the outlet side so that the air passes over the cold water and is still further cooled and dehumidified and any moisture droplets and the like sprayed into the air by the spray may precipitate therefrom together with other moisture precipitated from the air through the cooling and dehumidiiication process.

To these ends, the condenser 11 is formed of a sheet material body such as sheet metal or the like in the configuration of a semi-doughnut or horseshoe-like pan 39 and a similarly plan congurated cover V40 which is hingedly mounted on the pan 39 as by a hinge assembly 41. The entire condenser assembly is supported to overlie y the drum and bulkhead 15 so as to lie in a substantially horizontal plane and is so mounted and secured in position as by being secured to a cross brace 42 which is'in turn secured to the peripheral frame structural members 13 and may be formed as a channel structural member or the u like as viewed in section in Figures 3 and 4. This channel 42 Yhas an arcuate portion 43 which matches .the curvature ofthe front ofthe condenser so that the condenser may be conveniently secured thereto. To this end, the pan 39 is provided with apair of outwardly extending flange lips (44 for conveniently securing the pan to the channel 42 to the condenser from the fan 23 and the outlet duct 34 from 1thecondenser leading to the preheater duct 35.

The horseshoe or semi-doughnut pan 39 has a relatively Hat planar upper edge flange 46 with depending side walls extending to the pan bottom 47, all of which are rformed from a single piece of lsheet material. The pan itself is relatively shallow in the region of the inlet thereto as may-be seen in Figures l and 4 and this shallowness extends to an area in the region of the air outlet where the depth of the condenser is substantially increased as at 48, the increasing depth occurring over a tapered length 'leading to a liquid coolant outlet 49 at the .deepest region of the condenser and substantially adjacent tothe air outlet.

This liquid coolant 'outlet 49 is connected through a hose or tube 50 or the like to the pump and-valve mechanism 25 which leads to an outlet 51 at the bottom of the combination assembly.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated inthe drawing, the condenser is substantially semi-doughnut or horseshoe shaped and the top 40'is provided with a plurality of seal forming depressions 52 therein which are elective to -cooperate with the condenser pan side walls having a semi-doughnut or horseshoe configuration to seal lthe condenser.v Thus, when the air enters the condenser through the inlet 53 thereto, which -is a sheet material inlet formed of a pair of symmetrical flanged and secured-together sections further secured to the back wall 54 of the pan 39, the air will ow through the condenser in a horseshoe pattern to the outlet 55 which is -similarly formed of a pair of secured-together symmetrical` flanged sections secured to the back wall 54Yof the pan 39. (The inlet 53 is in direct air communication with the duct 32 while the outlet 55 is in air ilow communication with the duct 34.)

To clean, cool and condense the air flowing throughJ the condenser from the inlet 53 thereof and to wash the lint from the air, in the region of the inlet to the condenser the top is provided with a still another indented formed region 56 at the inner edge of which a condenser spray tube 57 is secured to the top of the condenser on the inner face thereof and extends between the ends of the seal forming depressions 52 of the top of the condenser. This spray tube 57 is provided with a plurality of aligned apertures for spraying a pair of substantially complete sheets of coolant such as cold water or the like across the condenser disposed at substantially a 45 angle to each other. These spray sheets of water are directed with one thereof extending into the condenser and theother thereof extending vertically across the con denser so that all air passing through the condenser is sprayed and washed for removing the lint from the air as well as to cool the air and thereby condense moisture therefrom as picked up in the drier drum. The water then ows over the bottom 47 of the pan 39 to the drain end 49 and as the air passes over the cold water it is further cooled and the moisture therein is further condensed so that the air passing through the outlet 55 is clean, `cool and substantially dry.

To supply water to the Spray tube 57 in the condenser, the tube 57 extends radially outwardly from the con denser (Figures 1 and 2) and connects to a controllable coolant valve 60 through a lead tube 61 at the outlet from the valve 60. An inlet pipe 62, Figure 1, leads to any appropriate source of coolant such as the cold water supply.

By virtue of the construction of the condenser as described hereinabove, the condenser is not only eicient but substantially self-flushing to drain away substantially all of the lint washed from the air. For convenient maintenance of the condenser, however, the top 40 is hinged as at .41 by a flanged rear edge 63 secured as at 64 to a hinge 65 secured to the pan 39 so that the top 40 of the condenser 11 may be hingedly displaced from the pan 39 as lindicated by the dotted line illustration in Figure 3.

During operation, however, it is best that the con denser top be xedly locked in place and for this purpose a pair of angle brackets 67-67 are secured to the supporting channel bar 42 and are provided with threaded apertures for receiving locking screws 68 which pass through apertures in ears 69 in the top 40.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by the principles of the present invention there is provided a new drier and condenser combination which is provided with a highly new condenser structure of economical construction, economical maintenance and ecient operation. It will also be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be eiected without departing from the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts and principles of this invention and I, therefore, intend to cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts and principles of this invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a clothes drier having a drier drum and a substantially closed air circulating system therefor, a condenser in the system, and means to mount the condenser over the drier drum, said condenser having a pan with an air inlet thereto and an air outlet therefrom and I further having a liquid coolant inlet thereto and a drain therefrom and means in said condenser directing coolant over substantially all of the air entering the condenser, the condenser having a bottom pan congurated to direct the air into a substantially horeshoe path.

2. In a clothes drier having a drier drum and a substantially closed air circulating system therefor, a condenser in the system, means to mount the condenser over the drier drum, rst air duct means defining a ow path for air from the drier drum to the condenser, and second and third air duct means defining a flow path for air from the condenser back to the drier drum, said second air duct means extending from the condenser downwardly to the base of the drier drum, said third air duct means leading upwardly from the lower end of the second duct to an inlet into the upper end of the drum, said ducts being in juxtaposed relationship for heat transfer from the third to the second duct, and heating means in said third duct.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 418,773 Van Osdel Jan. 7, 1890 2,308,767 Mayes Jan. 19, 1943 2,547,238 Tremblay Apr. 3, 1951 2,651,113 Milby et al. Sept. 8, 1953 2,722,057 Pugh Nov. 1, 1955 2,724,906 Piieider Nov. 29, 1955 2,748,496 Hellyer .Tune 5, 1956 

